Administrative set-up of Kumbh Mela is like ‘Close the stable door after the horse has bolted’
Special correspondent
Prayagaraj (UP) : The administrative set-up of Kumbh Mela has awakened after 40 devotees lost their lives in the stampede occurred in the railway station at Prayagaraj. On the auspicious occasion of Vasant Panchami, one more important Holy bath will be performed. In view of it, a meeting of high level officers of railway administration and State Government has taken place. In this meeting, discussions were held about the crowd management in respect of devotees on the day of Vasant Panchami, and a new plan was devised. (If such meetings would have been held before Kumbh Mela, 40 innocents would not have lost their lives. When a large festival like Kumbh is taking place, such a negligent administrative set-up has been witnessed by the entire world. Bharat where 40 individuals have lost their lives in an accident caused due to a human error by just not planning any security arrangements for 3 crores of persons, despite having every means at its disposal ! – Editor SP)
Crowd will not be diverted towards city !
On the day of Vasant Panchami, a road, ‘Civil Lines’ directly connecting the city will be closed for the devotees visiting Kumbh Mela. The devotees, who wish to enter city will have to do so by Leader Road. Whereas the devotees arriving via Nawab Yusuf road will have to travel by other roads. These decisions are taken in a meeting of officers. (The devotees leaving Kumbh Mela on Mauni Amavasya travelled by whichever road was in sight. There was no control on their movement. Now, efforts are being made to rectify this mistake. This goes to prove that on Mauni Amavasya, there was a total lack of planning by the district administration. – Editor SP) In order to avoid another occurrence of accident on Vasant Panchami, District Administrative Officers will be accompanying security forces at railway and bust stations. For this purpose, officers from other districts will also be deputed.
Railways asked for additional manpower !
In the above meeting, railway administration has requested U.P. Government for additional manpower to control the crowd at the railway station on the day of Vasant Panchami. (Even when railway administration was aware that 3 crores devotees will be arriving on Mauni Amavasya, why they have not thought of asking for additional manpower at that time itself ? This means that there was no contemplation on the part of the railway administration for crowd management; that is why the accident took place ! – Editor SP)
Source : Dainik Sanatan Prabhat
